On ascending a hill (Clearihue's) to the north, the eye gathers in thecontour of a dense grove, hiding in its drooping folds "Auvergne," theformer secluded country seat of Chief Justice Jonathan Sewell, now ownedby George Alford, Esq.

A mile to the north, in the deep recesses of Bourg-Royal, rest the fastcrumbling and now insignificant ruins of the only rural _Château_ ofFrench origin round Quebec. Was it built by Talon, or by Bigot? anunfathomable mystery. Silence and desertion reign supreme, where of yoreBigot's heartless wassailers used to meet and gamble away King Louis'scard money and _piastres_.

"And sunk are the voices that sounded in mirth. And empty the goblets and dreary the hearth!"

The tower or boudoir, where was immured the Algonquin maid Caroline, thebeautiful, that too has crumbled to dust.

We are now at Lorette.

_TAHOURENCHE._

"I'm the chieftain of this mountain, Times and seasons found me here, My drink has been the crystal fountain, My fare the wild moose or the deer." (_The_ HURON CHIEF, _by Adam Kidd_).

There exists a faithful portrait of this noble savage, such as drawn byhimself and presented, we believe, to the Laval University at Quebec; forglimpses of his origin, home and surroundings, we are indebted to anhonorary chief of the tribe, Ahatsistari. [308]

Paul _Tahourenché_ (François Xavier Picard), Great Chief of the LoretteHurons, was born at Indian Lorette in 1810; he is consequently at present71 years of age. He is tall, erect, well proportioned, dignified in faceand deportment; when habited in his Indian regalia: blue frock coat, withbright buttons and medals, plumed fur cap, leggings of colored cloth,bright sash and armlets, with war axe, he looks the _beau ideal_ of arespectable Huron warrior, shorn of the ferocity of other days. Of theline of Huron chiefs which proceeded him we can furnish but a very meagrehistory. Adam Kidd, who wrote a poem entitled the _Huron Chief_ in 1829,and who paid that year a visit to the Lorette Indians and saw their oldestchief, _Oui-a-ra-lih-to_, having unfortunately failed to fulfil thepromise he then made of publishing the traditions and legends of the tribefurnished him on that occasion, an omission which, we hope, will yet besupplied by an educated Huron; the Revd. Mr. Vincent. Of _Oui-a-ra-lih-to_, we learn from Mr. Kidd: "This venerable patriarch, who is now (in1829) approaching the precincts of a century, is the grandson of _Tsa-a-ra-lih-to_, head chief of the Hurons during the war of 1759. _Oui-a-ra-lih-to_, with about thirty-five warriors of the Indian village of Lorettein conjunction with the Iroquois and Algonquins, was actually engaged inthe army of Burgoyne, a name unworthy to be associated with the noblespirit of Indian heroism. During my visit to this old chief--May, 1829--hewillingly furnished me with an account of the distinguished warriors, andthe traditions of different tribes, which are still fresh in his memory,and are handed from father to son, with the precision, interest andadmiration that the tales and exploits of Ossian and his heroes arecirculated in their original purity to this day among the Irish." Mr. Kiddalludes also to another great chief, _Atsistari_, who flourished in 1637,and who may have been the same as the Huron Saul _Ahatsistari_, who livedin 1642.

Of the powerful tribes of the aborigines who, in remote periods, infestedthe forests, lakes and streams of Canada, none by their prowess in war,wisdom in council, success as tillers of the soil, intelligent and loftybearing, surpassed the Wyandats, or Hurons. [309] They numbered 15,000souls, according to the historian Ferland, 40,000 according to Bouchette,and chiefly inhabited the country bordering on Lake Huron and Simcoe; theymight, says Sagard, have been styled the "nobles" among savages incontradistinction to that other powerful confederacy, more democratic intheir ways, also speaking the Huron language, and known as the FiveNations (Mohawks,[310] Oneydoes, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas), styledby the French the Iroquois, or Hiroquois, from the habit of their oratorsof closing their orations with the word "Hiro"--_I have said_.

'Tis a curious fact that the aborigines whom Jacques Cartier had foundmasters of the soil, at Hochelaga (Montreal,) and Stadacona (Quebec,) in1535, sixty-eight years later on, in 1603, when Champlain visited theseIndian towns, had disappeared: a different race had succeeded them. Thoughit opens a wide field to conjecture, recent investigations seem toindicate that it was the Huron-Iroquois nation who, in 1535, were the_enfants du sol_ at both places, and that in the interim the Algonquinshad, after bloody wars, dispersed and expelled the Huron-Iroquois. Thesavages with whom the early French settlers held intercourse can becomprised under two specific heads--the Algonquins and the Huron-Iroquois--the language of each differing as much, observes the learned AbbéFaillon, as French does from Chinese.

It would take us beyond the limit of this sketch to recapitulate theseries of massacres which reduced these warlike savages, the Hurons, fromtheir high estate to that of a dispersed, nomadic tribe, and placed theIroquois or Mohawks, at one time nearly destroyed by the Hurons, in theascendant.

Their final overthrow may be said to date back to the great Indianmassacres of 1648-9, at their towns, or missions, on the shores of LakesSimcoe, the first mission being founded in 1615 by the Friar LeCaron,accompanied by twelve soldiers sent by Champlain in advance of his ownparty. The Jesuit mission was attacked by the Iroquois in 1648; St. Louis,St. Joseph [311], St. Ignace [312], Ste. Marie [313], St. Jean [314],successively fell, or were threatened; all the inmates who escaped soughtsafety in flight; the protracted sufferings of the missionaries Bréboeufand Gabriel Lallemant have furnished one of the brightest pages ofChristian heroism in New France. Bréboeuf expired on the 16th March andLallemant on 17th March, 1649. A party of Hurons sought Manitoulin Island,then called Ekaentoton, a few fled to Virginia; others succeeded inobtaining protection on the south shore of Lake Erie, from the Erie tribe,only to share, later on, the dire fate of the nation who had dared toincorporate them in its sparse ranks.

Father P. Ragueneau (the first writer, by the by, who makes mention ofNiagara Falls--_Relations de_ 1648,) escorted three or four hundredof these terror-stricken people to Quebec on the 26th July, 1650, andlodged them in the Island of Orleans, at a spot since called _L'Anse duFort_, where they were joined, in 1651, by a party of Hurons, who in1649, on hearing of the massacre of their western brethren, had asked towinter at Quebec. For ten years past a group of Algonquins, Montagnais andHurons, amidst incessant alarms, had been located in the picturesqueparish of Sillery; they, too, were in quest of a more secure asylum.Negotiations were soon entered into between them and their persecutedfriends of the West; a plan was put forth to combine. On the 29th March,1651, the Sillery Indians, many of whom were Hurons united with thewestern brethren, sought a shelter, though a very insecure one, in afortified nook, adjoining their missionary's house, on the land ofEléonore de Grandmaison, purchased for them at _l'Anse du Fort_, inthe Island of Orleans, on the south side of the point opposite Quebec.Here they set to tilling the soil with some success, cultivating chieflyIndian corn, their numbers being occasionally increased during the year1650, by their fugitive brethren of the West, until they counted above 600souls. Even under the guns of the picket Fort of Orleans, which hadchanged its name to Ile St. Marie, in remembrance of their formerresidency, the tomahawk and scalping-knife reached them; on the 20th May,1656, eighty-six of their number were carried away captives, and sixkilled, by the ferocious Iroquois; and on the 4th June, 1656, again theyhad to fly before their merciless tormentors. The big guns of Fort St.Louis, which then stood at the north-west extremity of the spot on whichthe Dufferin Terrace has lately been erected, seemed to the Hurons a moreeffectual protection than the howitzers of _Anse du Fort_, so theybegged from Governor d'Aillebout for leave to nestle under them in 1658.'Twas granted. When the Marquis de Tracy had arranged a truce with theIroquois in 1665, the Huron refugees prepared to bid adieu to city lifeand to city dust. Two years later we find them ensconced at Beauport,where others had squatted on land belonging to the Jesuits; they stoppedthere one year, and suddenly left, in 1669, to pitch their wigwams for afew years at Côte St. Michel, four and a half miles from Quebec, at theMission of Notre Dame de Foye, now called St. Foye. On the 29th December,1673, restless and alarmed, the helpless sons of the forest sought theseclusion, leafy shades and green fields _Ancienne Lorette_. [315]Here they dwelled nearly twenty-five years. The youths had grown up tomanhood, with the terrible memories of the past still fresh on theirminds. One fine day, allured by hopes of more abundant game, they packedup their household gods, and finally, in 1697, they went and settled onthe elevated _plateau_, close to the foaming rapids of St. Ambroise,now known as Indian, or _Jeune_, Lorette.

"The Hurons," says Ahatsistari, [317] "are divided into four families:that of the _Deer_; of the _Tortoise_; of the _Bear_; of the _Wolf_. Thus,the great Chief François Xavier Picard--Tahourenché--is a _Deer_, and hisson Paul is a _Tortoise_, because (Her Highness) Madame _Tahourenché_ is a_Tortoise_; a lithe, handsome woman for all that.

"Each family has its chief, or war captain; he is elected by choice. Thefour war captains chose two council chiefs, the six united select a grandchief, either from among themselves or from among the honorary chiefs, ifthey think proper."

We append a letter, from Sister Ste. Helene, descriptive of Indiancustoms, in 1730. Civilization and Christianity have sensibly modified,some will say, improved the Red Skins since then.

_INDIAN DRESS--LOVE MAKING-FEASTS—BURIALS._

From a MS. Letter of _Soeur Ste. Hélène_, published by Abbé Verrault.

"Would you like to learn how they dress--how they marry--how they are buried? First, you must know that several tribes go completely naked, and wear but the fig-leaf. In Montreal, you meet many stately and well-proportioned savages, walking about in this state of nudity, as proud in their bearing, as if they wore good clothes. Some have on a shirt only; others have a covering negligently thrown over one shoulder. Christianized Indians are differently habited. The Iroquois put their shirt over their wearing apparel, and over the shirt another raiment, which encloses a portion of the head, which is always bare. The men generally wear garments over their shirts; the latter, when new, is generally very white, but is used until it gets perfectly dark and disgustingly greasy. They sometimes shave a portion of their head, or else they comb one half of their hair back, the other half front. They occasionally tie up a tuft of hair very tight on the top of the head, rising towards the skies. At other times some allow a long tress of hair to fall over their face: it interferes with their eating, but it has to be put up with. They smear their ears with a white substance, or their face with blue, vermillion and black. They are more elaborate in their war-toilette than a coquette would be in dressing--in order to conceal the paleness which fear might engender. They are profuse of gold and silver brocade, porcelain necklaces, bracelets of beads--the women, especially in their youth. This is their jewellery, their diamonds, the value whereof sometimes reaches 1,000 francs. The Abenaqis enclose their heads in a small cap embroidered with beads or ornamented with brocade. They wrap their legs in leggings with a fringe three or four inches long. Their shoes consist of socks, with plaits round the toe, covering the foot. All this has its charm in their eyes; they are as vain of dress as any Frenchman. The pagan tribes, whenever love is felt, marry without any ceremonial. The pair will discover whether they love one another in silence, Indian-like. One of the caresses consists in throwing to the loved one a small pebble, or grains of Indian corn, or else some other object which cannot hurt. The swain, on throwing the pebble, is bound to look in the opposite direction, to make believe he did not do it. Should the adored one return it, matters look well, else, the game is up.

"The Christianized Indians are married in face of the church, without any contract of marriage and without stipulations, because an Indian cannot own real estate and cannot bequeath to his children. The wealthiest is the mightiest hunter. This favored individual, in his village, passes for a grand match. Bravery and great warriors they think much of--they constitute the latter their chiefs. Poverty is no disgrace at the council board, and an orator in rags will speak out as boldly, as successfully, as if he were decked out in gold cloth. They come thus poorly habited in the presence of the Governor, indulge in long harangues, and touch his hand fearlessly. When ladies are present at these interviews, they honor them thus--seize their hand and shake it in token of friendship. Before I became a nun I was present at some of these ceremonies, and having won their good opinion, they would extend to me a hand which was disgusting in the extreme, but which I had cheerfully to accept for fear of offending them. They are sometimes asked to dine at the Governor's table. Unlucky are their neighbors, especially when they happen to be ladies, they are so filthy in their persons.--1730."--_Revue Canadienne_, page 108-9.

Such the Montreal Indians in 1730.

The Lorette Chapel dates back, as well as the _Old Mill_, to 1731. In1862 the Chapel suffered much by fire. The tribe occupies land reserved byGovernment, under the regulations of the Indian Bureau of Ottawa. "IndianLorette comprises from forty to fifty cottages, on the _plateau_ ofthe falls--spread out, without design, over an area of about twenty squareacres. In the centre runs the kings highway, the outer half sloping down,towards the St. Charles. The most prominent objects are the church, agrist mill and Mr. Reid's paper mill; close by a wooden fence encloses'God's acre,' in the centre of which a cross marks the tomb of ChiefNicholas." [318] It is indeed, "a wild spot, covered with the primitiveforest and seamed by a deep and tortuous ravine, where the St. Charlesfoams, white as a snow drift, over the black ledges, and where thesunshine struggles through matted boughs of the pine and the fir, to baskfor brief moments on the mossy rocks, or flash on the hurrying waters....Here, to this day, the tourist finds the remnants of a lost people,harmless weavers of baskets and sewers of mocassins, the Huron blood fastbleaching out of them."

Of "free and independent electors" none here exist, the little Loretteworld goes on smoothly without them. "No Huron on the Reserve can vote. Nowhite man is allowed to settle within the sacred precincts of the Huronkingdom, composed, 1st, of the lofty _Plateau_ of the village ofIndian Lorette, which the tribe occupy. 2nd. Of the forty square acres,about a mile and a half to the north-west of the village. 3rd. Of theRocmont settlement, in the adjoining County of Portneuf, in the very heartof the Laurentine Mountains, ceded to the Hurons by Government, as acompensation for the Seigniory of St. Gabriel, of which Government tookpossession, and to which the Hurons set up a claim.

"In all that which pertains to the occupation, the possession and theadministration of these fragments of its ancient extensive territory, theusages and customs of the tribe have force of law. The village is governedby a Council of Sachems; in cases of misunderstandings an appeal lies tothe Ottawa Bureau, under the control of the Minister of the Interior (our"Downing street" wisely abstaining from interference except on very urgentoccasions). Lands descend by right of inheritance; the Huron Council alonebeing authorized to issue location tickets; none are granted but to Huronboys, strangers being excluded. Of course, these disabilities affect thedenizens of the reserve only; a Huron (and there are some,_Tahourenche_, Vincent and others) owning lands in his own rightelsewhere, and paying taxes and tithes, enjoys the rights and immunitiesof any other British subject."

From the date of the Lorette Indian settlement in 1697, down to the yearof the capitulation of Quebec--1759--the annals of the tribe afford butfew stirring incidents: an annual bear, beaver, or cariboo hunt; thereturn of a war party, with its scalps--English, probably--as the tribehad a wholesome terror of the Iroquois; an occasional _pow wow_ as tohow many warriors could be spared to assist their trusted and braveallies, the French of Quebec, against the heretical soldiers of Old or NewEngland.

We are in possession of no facts to show that these Christianised Huronsdiffered much from other Christianised Indians; church services, warcouncils, feasting, smoking, dancing, scalping, fishing and hunting,filling in, agreeably, socially, or usefully, the daily routine of theirexistence. Civilization, as understood by christianised or by pagansavages, has never inspired us with unqualified admiration. The varioussiege narratives we have perused, whilst they bring in the Indian allies,at the close of the battle, to "finish off" the wounded at Montmorency, inJuly, 1759; at the plains of Abraham, in September 1759; at St. Foye, inApril, 1760, generally mention the Abenaquis for this delicate office of_friseurs_. The terror, nay, the horror, which the use of the tomahawk andscalping knife inspired to the British soldiery, was often greater thantheir fear of the French sabres and French musquetoons.

British rule, in 1759, if it did bring the Hurons less of campaigning andfewer scalps, was the harbinger of domestic peace and stable homes, withvery remunerative contracts each fall for several thousands of pairs ofsnow-shoes, cariboo mocassins and mittens for the English regimentstenanting the Citadel of Quebec, whose wealthy officers every winterscoured the Laurentine range, north of the city, in quest of deer, bearand cariboo, under the experienced guidance of Gros Louis, Sioui, Vincent,and other famous Huron Nimrods.

The chronicles of the settlement proclaim the valour and wisdom of some oftheir early chiefs, conspicuous appears the renowned Ahatsistari, surnamedthe Huron Saul, from his early hostility to missionaries; death closed hiscareer, on the verdant banks of Lake Huron, in 1642, a convert tomissionary teachings.

At the departure of the French, in 1759, a new allegiance was forced onthe sons of the forest, St. George and his dragon for them took the placeof St. Louis and his lilies. The _Deer_, the _Bear_, the _Tortoise_ andthe _Wolf_ tribe, however, have managed to live on most friendly termswith the _Dragon_. In 1776, Lorette sent its contingent of painted andplumed warriors to fight General Burgoyne's inglorious campaigns. Theservices rendered to England by her swarthy allies in the war of 1812-14were marked, for years a distribution of presents took place from theQuebec Commissariat and Indian Department. Proudly did the Hurons, as wellas the Abenaquis, Montagnais, Micmac and Malicite Indians bear the snow-white blankets, scarlet cloth and hunting-knives awarded them by Georgethe King, and by the victors of Waterloo. Each year, at midsummer, theIndians in their canoes, with their live freight of hunters, their copper-coloured squaws and black-eyed papooses, rushed from Labrador, Gaspé,Restigouche, Baie des Chaleurs, and pitched their tents on a strip of landat Lévi, hence called Indian Cove, the city itself being closed to thegrim monarchs of the woods, reputed ugly customers when in their cups. Aspecial envoy, however, was sent to the Lorette Indians on similaroccasions. The Indians settled on Canadian soil were distinguished fortheir loyalty to England, who has ever treated them more mercifully thandid "Uncle Sam."

The war between England and the United States in 1812 brought the Lorettebraves again to the front, and the future hero of Châteauguay, Col. DeSalaberry, was sent to enlist them. Col. De Salaberry attended in personon the tribe, at Indian Lorette. A grand pow-wow had been convoked. Thesons of the forest eagerly sent in their names and got in readiness whenthe Colonel returned a few days later to inform them that the Governmenthad decided to retain them as a reserve in the event of Quebec beingattacked from the Kennebec.

Notwithstanding this announcement, six Hurons (among whom were Joseph andStanislas Vincent) claimed with loud cries the right to accompany theCanadian _Voltigeurs_, commanded by the Colonel.

At Châteauguay, where 300 Canadians so gloriously repelled 7,000 invaders,the brothers Vincent swam across the river to capture and make prisoners,the flying Yankees.

These swarthy warriors had but a faint idea of what military disciplinemeant, and thinking that, the battle being over, they could return toLorette, left accordingly. This was a flagrant case of desertion. Nothingshort of the brave Colonel's earnest entreaties, sufficed to procure apardon for the redskins. A letter was written to Col. De Salaberry by hisfather, late M.P. for the county, on this subject; it has been preserved.

The Hurons attended at Beauport at the unveiling of the monument of DeSalaberry on the 27th of June, 1880, and subscribed bountifully to thebuilding fund.

What with war medals, clothing, ammunition, fertile lands speciallyreserved at Lorette, on the Restigouche, at Nouvelle, Isle Verte,Caughnawaga, St. Regis, &c., the "untutored savage," shielded by abeneficent legislation, watched over by zealous missionaries, was at timesan object of envy to his white brethren. Age or infirmity, seldom war,tore him away from this vale of sorrow, to join the great Indian"majority" in those happy hunting grounds promised to him by his Sachems.

The Hurons were ever ready to parade their paint, feathers, and tomahawks,at the arrival of every new Governor at Quebec, and to assure Ononthio,[319] of their undying attachment and unswerving loyalty to their greatfather or august mother "who dwells on the other side of the Great Lake."These traditions have descended even to the time when _Ononthio_ wasmerely a Lieutenant-Governor under Confederation. We recollect meeting, in31st March, 1873, a stately deputation, composed of twenty-three Huronsfrom Lorette, returning from Clermont, the country seat of Lieutenant-Governor Caron, where they had danced the war-dance for the ladies, andharangued, as follows, the respected Laird of Clermont, just thenappointed Lieutenant-Governor:--

"The chiefs, the warriors, the women and children of our tribe, greet you.The man of the woods also likes to render homage to merit: he loves to seein his chiefs those precious qualities which constitute the statesman.

"All these gifts of the Great Spirit, wisdom in council, prudence inexecution, and that sagacity we exact in the Captains of our nation, youpossess them all in an eminent degree.

"We warmly applaud your appointment to the exalted post of Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of Quebec, and feel happy in taking advantage ofthe occasion to present our congratulations.

"May we also be allowed to renew the assurance of our devotion towards ouraugust Mother, who dwells on the other side of the Great Lake, as well asto the land of our forefathers.

"Accept for you, for Mrs. Caron and your family, our best wishes."

_CHÂTEAU BIGOT._

ITS HISTORY AND ROMANCE.

"Ensconced 'mid trees this château stood— 'Mid flowers each aisle and porch; At eve soft music charmed the ear— High blazed the festive torch.

But, ah! a sad and mournful tale Was hers who so enjoyed The transient bliss of these fair shades— By youth and love decoyed,

Her lord was true--yet he was false, False--false--as sin and hell— To former plights and vows he gave To one that loved him well." _The Hermitage._

From time immemorial an antique and crumbling ruin, standing in solitaryloneliness, in the centre of a clearing at the foot of the Charlesbourgmountain, some five miles from Quebec, has been visited by the young andthe curious. It was once a two story stone building, with ponderous walls.In length it is fifty-five feet by thirty-five feet broad--pierced for sixwindows in each story, with a well-proportioned door, in the centre. In1843, at the date of my first visit, the floor of the second story was yettolerably strong: I ascended to it by a rickety, old staircase. The ruinwas sketched in 1858, by Col. Benj. Lossing, and reproduced in _Harper'sMagazine_ for January, 1859. The lofty mountain to the north-west of itis called _La Montagne des Ormes_; for more than a century, theCharlesbourg peasantry designate the ruin as _La Maison de la Montagne_.The English have christened it the _Hermitage_, whilst to the Frenchportion of the population, it is known as Château-Bigot, or Beaumanoir;and truly, were it not on account of the associations which surround thetime-worn pile, few would take the trouble to go and look at the drearyobject.

The land on which it stands was formerly included in the _Fief de laTrinité_ granted between 1640 and 1650 to Monsieur Denis, a gentlemanfrom La Rochelle, in France, the ancestor of the numerous clans of Denis,Denis de la Ronde, Denis de Vitré, &c. The seigniory was subsequently soldto Monseigneur de Laval, a descendant of the Montmorency's, who founded in1663 the Seminary of Quebec, and one of the most illustrious prelates inNew France, the portion towards the Mountain was dismembered. When theIntendant Talon formed his Baronie Des Islets [321] he annexed to itcertain lands of the _Fief de la Trinité_, amongst others that parton which now stands the remains of the old château, of which he seems tohave been the builder, but which he subsequently sold. Bigot havingacquired it long after, enlarged and improved it very much. He was aluxurious French gentleman, who, more than one hundred years ago, held theexalted post of Intendant or Administrator under the French Crown, inCanada. [322] In those days the forests which skirted the city wereabundantly stocked with game: deer, of several varieties, bears, foxes,perhaps even that noble and lordly animal, now extinct in eastern Canada,the Canadian stag, or Wapiti, roamed in herds over the Laurentian chain ofmountains, and were shot within a few miles of the Château St. Louis. Thismay have been one of the chief reasons why the French Lucullus erected thelittle _château_, which to this day bears his name--a resting place forhimself and friends after the chase. The profound seclusion of the spot,combined with its beautiful scenery, would have rendered it attractiveduring the summer months, even without the sweet repose it had in storefor a tired hunter. Tradition ascribes to it other purposes, andamusements less permissible than those of the chase. A tragical occurrenceenshrines the old building with a tinge of mystery which the pen of thenovelist has woven into a thrilling romance.

François Bigot, thirteenth and last Intendant of the Kings of France inCanada, was born in the Province of Guienne, and descended of a familydistinguished by professional eminence at the French bar. His commissionbears date "10th June, 1747." The Intendant had the charge of fourdepartments: Justice, Police, Finance and Marine. He had previously filledthe post of Intendant in Louisiana, and also at Louisburg. Thedisaffection and revolt caused by his rapacity in that city, were mainlyinstrumental in producing its downfall and surrender to the Englishcommander, Pepperell, in 1745. Living at a time when tainted morals andofficial corruption ruled at court, he seems to have taken his standard ofmorality from the mother country; his malversations in office, hisextensive frauds on the treasury, more than £400,000; his colossalspeculations in provisions and commissariat supplies furnished by theFrench government to the colonists during a famine; his dissolute conductand final downfall, are fruitful themes wherefrom the historian can drawwholesome lessons for all generations. Whether his Charlesbourg (thencalled Bourg Royal) castle was used as the receptacle of some of his mostvaluable booty, or whether it was merely a kind of Lilliputian _Parc auCerfs_, such as his royal master had, tradition does not say. It wouldappear, however, that it was kept up by the plunder wrung from sorrowingcolonists, and that the large profits he made by paring from the scantypittance the French government allowed the starving residents, were herelavished in gambling, riot and luxury.

In May, 1757, the population of Quebec was reduced to subsist on fourounces of bread per diem, one lb. of beef, HORSE-FLESH or CODFISH; and inApril of the following year, the miserable allowance was reduced to onehalf. "At this time," remarks our historian, Garneau, "famished men wereseen sinking to the earth in the street from exhaustion."

Such were the times during which Louis XV.'s minion would retire to hisSardanapalian retreat, to gorge himself at leisure on the life blood ofthe Canadian people, whose welfare he had sworn to watch over! Such, thedoings in the colony in the days of La Pompadour. The results of thismisrule were soon apparent: _the British lion placed his paw on thecoveted morsel_. The loss of Canada was viewed, if not by the nation,at least by the French Court, with indifference, to use the terms of oneof Her Britannic Majesty's ministers, when its fate and possible loss werecanvassed one century later in the British Parliament, "withoutapprehension or regret." Voltaire gave his friends a banquet at Ferney, incommemoration of the event; the court favourite congratulated His Majesty,that since he had got rid of these "fifteen hundred leagues of frozencountry," he had now a chance of sleeping in peace; the minister Choiseulurged Louis XV. to sign the final treaty of 1763, saying that Canada wouldbe _un embarras_ to the English, and that if they were wise theywould have nothing to do with it. In the meantime the red cross of St.George was waving over the battlements on which the lily-spangled bannerof the Bourbons had proudly sat with but one interruption for one hundredand fifty years, the infamous Bigot was provisionally consigned to adungeon in the Bastille--subsequently tried and exiled to Bordeaux; hisproperty was confiscated, whilst his confederates and abettors, such asVarin, Bréard, Maurin, Corpron, Martel, Estèbe and others, were also triedand punished by fine, imprisonment and confiscation: one Penisseault, agovernment clerk (a butcher's son by birth), who had married in thecolony, but whose pretty wife accompanied the Chevalier de Lévis on hisreturn to France, seems to have fared better than the rest.

But to revert to the château walls as I saw them on the 4th of June, 1863.

During a ramble with an English friend through the woods, which gave us anopportunity of providing ourselves with wild flowers to strew over thetomb of its fair "Rosamond," [323] such as the marsh marigold, clintonia,uvularia, the star flower, veronica, kalmia, trillium, and Canadianviolets, we unexpectedly struck on the old ruin. One of the first thingsthat attracted our notice was the singularly corroding effect the easterlywind has on stone and mortar in Canada; the east gable being indented andmuch more eaten away than that exposed to the western blast. Of theoriginal structure nothing is left now standing but the two gables and thedivision walls; they are all three of great thickness; certainly no modernhouse is built in the manner this seems to have been. It had two stories,with rooms in the attic, and deep cellars; a communication existed fromone cellar to the other through the division wall. There is also visible avery small door cut through the cellar wall of the west gable; it leads toa vaulted apartment of some eight feet square; the small mound of masonrywhich covered it might originally have been effectually hidden from viewby a plantation of trees over it. What could this have been built for,asked my romantic friend? Was it intended to secure some of theIntendant's plate or other portion of his ill-gotten treasure? Or else asthe Abbé Ferland suggests: [324] "Was it to store the fruity old Port andsparkling Moselle of the club of the Barons, who held their jovialmeetings there about the beginning of this century?" Was it hismistresses' secret _boudoir_ when the Intendant's lady visited thechâteau, like the Woodstock tower to which Royal Henry picked his waythrough "Love's Ladder?" _Quien sabe?_ Who can unravel the mystery?It may have served for the foundation of the tower which existed when Mr.Papineau visited and described the place fifty years ago. The heavy cedarrafters, more than one hundred years old, are to this day sound: one hasbeen broken by the fall, probably of some heavy stones. There are severalindentures in the walls for fire-places, which are built of cut masonry;from the angle of one a song sparrow flew out uttering an anxious note. Wesearched and discovered the bird's nest, with five spotted, dusky eggs init. How strange! in the midst of ruin and decay, the sweet tokens of hope,love and harmony! What cared the child of song if her innocent offspringwere reared amidst these mouldering relics of the past, mayhap a guiltypast? Could she not teach them to warble sweetly, even from the roof whichechoed the dying sighs of the Algonquin maid? Red alder trees grew rankand vigorous amongst the disjointed masonry, which had crumbled from thewalls into the cellar; no trace existed of the wooden staircase mentionedby Mr. Papineau; the timber of the roof had rotted away or been used forcamp fires by those who frequent and fish the elfish stream which windsits way over a pebbly ledge towards Beauport. It is well stocked withsmall trout, which seem to breed in great numbers in the dam near theChâteau--a stream, did we say?

"A hidden brook, In the leafy mouth of June, That to the sleeping woods all night Singeth a quiet tune"

"Enough! enough! cried my poetic companion. The fate of the fair maid, thesong of birds, the rustling of groves, the murmur of yonder brook,--doesnot all this remind you of the accents of our laurel-crowned poet, he whosang of Claribel?"

Those who wish to visit the Hermitage, are strongly advised to take thecart-road which leads easterly from the Charlesbourg church, turning up.Pedestrians prefer the route through the fields; they may, in this case,leave their vehicle at Gaspard Huot's boarding-house--a little higher thanthe church at Charlesbourg,--and then walk through the fields, skirting,during the greater part of the road, the trout stream I have previouslymentioned; but by all means _let them take a guide_ with them.

Let us now translate and condense, from the interesting narrative of avisit paid to the Hermitage in 1831, by Mr. Amédée Papineau and histalented father, the Hon. Louis Joseph Papineau, the legend which attachesto it:

CAROLINE, OR THE ALGONQUIN MAID.

(BY AMÉDÉE PAPINEAU.)

"We drove, my father and I, with our vehicle to the foot of the mountain, and there, took a foot-path which led us through a dense wood. We encountered and crossed a rivulet, and then ascended a plateau cleared of wood, a most enchanting place; behind us and on our right was a thick forest: on our left the eye rested on boundless green fields, diversified [325] with golden harvests and with the neat white cottages of the peasantry. In the distance was visible the broad and placid waters of the St. Lawrence, at the foot of the citadel of Quebec, and also the shining cupolas and tin roofs of the city houses; in front of us, a confused mass of ruins, crenelated walls embedded in moss and rank grass, together with a tower half destroyed, beams, and the mouldering remains of a roof. After viewing the _tout ensemble_, we attentively examined each portion in detail--every fragment was interesting to us; we with difficulty made our way over the wall, ascending the upper stories by a staircase which creaked and trembled under our weight. With the assistance of a lighted candle we penetrated into the damp and cavernous cellars, carefully exploring every nook and corner, listening to the sound of our own footsteps, and occasionally startled by the rustling of bats which we disturbed in their dismal retreat. I was young, and consequently very impressionable. I had just left college; these extraordinary sounds and objects would at times make me feel very uneasy. I pressed close to my father and dared scarcely breathe; the remembrance of this subterranean exploration will not easily be forgotten. What were my sensations when I saw a tombstone, the reader can imagine? 'Here we are at last,' exclaimed my father and echo repeated his words. Carefully did we view this monument; presently we detected the letter 'C,' nearly obliterated by the action of time; after remaining there a few moments, to my unspeakable delight we made our exit from the chamber of death, and stepping over the ruins, we again alighted on the green sward. Evidently where we stood had formerly been a garden; we could still make out the avenues, the walks and plots, over which plum, lilac and apple trees grew wild.

"I had not yet uttered a word, but my curiosity getting the better of my fear, I demanded an explanation of this mysterious tombstone. My father beckoned me towards a shady old maple; we both sat on the turf, and he then told me as follows:--You have, no doubt, my son, heard of a French Intendant, of the name of Bigot, who had charge of the public funds in Canada somewhere about the year 1757; you have also read how he squandered these moneys and how his Christian Majesty had him sent to the Bastille when he returned to France, and had his property confiscated. All this you know. I shall now tell you what, probably, you do not know. This Intendant attempted to lead in Canada the same dissolute life which the old _noblesse_ led in France before the Revolution had _levelled_ all classes. He it was who built this country seat, of which you now contemplate the ruins. Here he came to seek relaxation from the cares of office; here he prepared entertainments to which the rank and fashion of Quebec, including the Governor General, eagerly flocked; nothing was wanting to complete the _éclat_ of this _little_ Versailles. Hunting was a favorite pastime of our ancestors, and Bigot was a mighty hunter. As active as a chamois, as daring as a lion was this indefatigable Nimrod, in the pursuit of bears and moose.

"On one occasion, when tracking with some sporting friends an old bear whom he had wounded, he was led over mountainous ridges and ravines very far from the castle. Nothing could restrain him; on he went in advance of every one, until the bloody trail brought him on the wounded animal, which he soon dispatched.

"During the chase the sun had gradually sunk over the western hills; the shades of evening were fast descending; how was the lord of the manor to find his way back? he was alone in a thick forest; in this emergency his heart did not fail him,--he hoped by the light of the moon to be able to return to his stray companions. Wearily he walked on, ascending once or twice a lofty tree, in order to see further, but all in vain; soon the unpleasant conviction dawned on him that like others in similar cases, he had been walking round a circle. Worn out and exhausted with fatigue and hunger, he sat down to ponder on what course he should adopt. The Queen of night, at that moment shedding her silvery rays around, only helped to show the hunter how hopeless was his present position. Amidst these mournful reflections, his ear was startled by the sound of footsteps close by; his spirits rose at the prospect of help being at hand; soon he perceived the outlines of a moving white object. Was it a phantom which his disordered imagination had conjured up; terrified he seized his trusty gun and was in the act of firing, when the apparition, rapidly advancing toward him, assumed quite a human form; a little figure stood before him with eyes as black as night, and raven tresses flowing to the night wind; a spotless garment enveloped in its ample folds this airy and graceful spectre. Was it a sylph, the spirit of the wilderness? Was it Diana, the goddess of the chase, favoring one of her most ardent votaries with a glimpse of her form divine? It was neither. It was an Algonquin beauty, one of those ideal types whose white skin betray their hybrid origin--a mixture of European blood with that of the aboriginal races. It was Caroline, a child of love, born on the shores of the great Ottawa river; a French officer was her sire, and the powerful Algonquin tribe of the Beaver claimed her mother.

"The Canadian Nimrod, struck at the sight of such extraordinary beauty, asked her name, and after relating his adventure, he begged of her to shew him the way to the castle in the neighborhood, as she must be familiar with every path in the forest. Such is the story told of the first meeting between the Indian beauty and the Canadian Minister of Finance and Feudal Judge in the year 175--.

"The Intendant was a married man; [326] his lady resided in the capital of Canada. She seldom accompanied her husband on his hunting excursions, but soon it was whispered that something more than the pursuit of wild animals attracted him to his country seat; an intrigue with an Indian beauty was hinted at. These discreditable rumors came to the ears of her ladyship; she made several visits to the castle in hopes of verifying her worst fears; jealousy is a watchful sentinel.

"The Intendant's dormitory was on the ground floor of the building; it is supposed the Indian girl occupied a secret apartment on the flat above; that her boudoir was reached through a long narrow passage, ending with a hidden staircase opening on the large room which overlooked the garden.

"The King, therefore, for his defence Against the furious Queen, At Woodstock builded such a bower, As never yet was seen. Most curiously that bower was built, Of stone and timber strong." (Ballad of Fair Rosamond.)

"Let us now see what took place on this identical spot on the 2nd July, 176--. It is night; the hall clock has just struck eleven; the murmur of the neighboring brook, gently wafted on the night wind, is scarcely audible; the Song Sparrow [327] has nearly finished his evening hymn, while the _Sweet Canada_ [328] bird, from the top of an old pine, merrily peals forth his shrill clarion. Silence the most profound pervades the whole castle; every light is extinguished; the pale rays of the moon slumber softly on the oak floor, reflected as they are through the gothic windows; every inmate is wrapped in sleep, even fair Rosamond who has just retired. Suddenly her door is violently thrust open; a masked person, with one bound rushes to her bed-side, and without saying a word, plunges a dagger to the hilt in her breast. Uttering a piercing shriek, the victim springs in the air and falls heavily on the floor. The Intendant, hearing the noise, hurries up stairs, raises the unhappy girl who has just time to point to the fatal weapon, still in the wound, and then falls back in his arms a lifeless corpse. The whole household are soon on foot; search is made for the murderer, but no clue is discovered. Some of the inmates fancied they had seen the figure of a woman rush down the secret stair and disappear in the woods about the time the murder took place. A variety of stories were circulated, some pretended to trace the crime to the Intendant's wife, whilst others alleged that the avenging mother of the creole was the assassin; some again urged that Caroline's father had attempted to wipe off the stain on the honour of his tribe, by himself despatching his erring child. A profound mystery to this day surrounds the whole transaction. Caroline was buried in the cellar of the castle, and the letter 'C' engraved on her tombstone, which, my son, you have just seen."

Half a century has now elapsed since the period mentioned in thisnarrative. In vain do we search for several of the leading characteristicson which Mr. Papineau descants so eloquently; time, the great destroyer,has obliterated many traces. Nothing meets one's view but moulderingwalls, over which green moss and rank weeds cluster profusely.Unmistakable indications of a former garden there certainly are, such asthe outlines of walks over which French cherry, apple and gooseberry treesgrow in wild luxuriance. I took home from the ruins a piece of bone; thisdecayed piece of mortality may have formed part of Caroline's big toe, foraught I can establish to the contrary; Château-Bigot brought back to mymind other remembrances of the past. I recollected reading that pendingthe panic consequent on the surrender of Quebec in 1759, the non-combatants of the city crowded within its walls; this time not torealized, but to seek concealment until Mars had inscribed another victoryon the British flag. Who would be prepared to swear that later, whenArnold and Montgomery had possession of the environs of Quebec, during thegreater portion of the winter, of 1775-6, some of those prudent Englishmerchants, (Adam Lymburner at their head), who awaited at Charlesbourg andBeauport the issue of the contest, did not take a quiet drive, to Château-Bigot, were it only to indulge in a philosophical disquisition on themutability of human events?

We are indebted to Mr. John D. Stewart of Quebec for a copy of thefollowing letter from his grandfather, written in 1776, from the Château.

(Mr. Charles Stewart, father of the late Mr. Charles Grey Stewart,Comptroller of Customs, to his father.)

"HERMITAGE, June 25th, 1776.

"MY DEAR FATHER,--I was overjoyed to hear by a letter from Mr. Gray, that you and my dear mother were in good health. Nothing can give me greater pleasure than to hear so. I was very sorry to hear that my sister had been ill. I hope she is now getting better.

We have been here for this winter in a very dismal situation. The rebels came here and blocked up the town of Quebec, at the end of November. I had been not at all well for two months previous, and at that time had not got better with a pain which obliged me to stay in the country, where I had been all the summer, although greatly against my inclination. I was allowed to remain peaceably by the rebels, until the middle of January, when I was taken and carried with sword and (fixed) bayonets before their general; the reason why, was, that after their attack upon the town on the 31st December, the Yankees were obliged to demand assistance of the country people to join them. I had spoken and done what I could to hinder the people of the village where I resided from going and taking arms with them. This came to light, and I was told at their head-quarters their general, one Arnold, a horse jockey or shipmaster, who then had the command, threatened to send me over to the (New England) colonies. After being detained a ... and two days, Arnold asked me, if he had not seen me before in Quebec. I said he had, and put him in remembrance of having once dined with him; upon which he said, on condition that I gave my word of honour not to meddle in the matter, he would allow me to go away. I told him the inhabitants were a parcel of scoundrels, and beyond a gentleman's notice; upon this I got off, and remained for upwards of two months without molestation, till the tracks of persons going to town from Beauport had been observed; the country people immediately suspected me, and came with drawn cutlasses to take me; luckily I was from home, having gone two days before about fifteen miles to see an acquaintance, and when I got back they had found out who had gone in (to town). The ill-nature of the peasants to me made me very uneasy on account of all the papers I had of Mr. Gray's, and dreading their malice much, I determined to go from them. I found out a place about five miles up amongst the woods, the Hermitage which being vacant I immediately retired to it, and carried all my papers with me. Mr. Peter Stewart had gone from his house in Beauport, down with his family to the Posts, and gave me the charge of it, and having heard that they (the Yankees) were going to put 150 men in it, I sent all his furniture, &c., to the house I had taken, so that I had my house all furnished; this was in the beginning of March; since which I have remained there. The people who left the town in the fall have not been allowed to go back. A Mr. Vi... one of the most considerable merchants, went in immediately after the 6th of May, (the day when the town people made a sally with about 900 men in all, who drove nigh 3000 of the Yankees from their camp, and relieved the town) and was sent to prison and kept several days. Major John Nairn was so obliging as to come out 8 or 9 days after that affair to see me; he asked me why I had not been in town. I told him the reason; I had got no pass. The next day he sent me one; except another, this is the only one which had been granted by the Governor as yet, and it is thought some won't be allowed to go in this summer, why, I cannot say. Every person had liberty to leave or stay by a proclamation for that purpose, but as it is military law, no person dare say it is wrong

I am going now again to remain in town, having now learned a little of the French. I understand every word almost that is said, although I cannot speak it as well; however I could wish that my brother John knew as much of it. I three days ago wrote him they were gone to Halifax, but am told they are to go from there to New York soon....

I am at present studying a little of the French law. If I do not make use it, it will do me no harm. I expect you have had letters from my brother Andrew....

I wish you would send me your vouchers of all your Jamaica debts I could go easily from here to there. If I cannot get money I can get rum, which sells and will sell, at a great price in this place. I can only stay there a few months."

Nor must we forget the jolly pic-nics the barons held there some eightyyears ago. [329]

On quitting these silent halls, from which the light of other days haddeparted, and from whence the voice of revelry seems to have fled forever,I re-crossed the little brook, already mentioned, musing on the past. Thesolitude which surrounds the dwelling and the tomb of the dark-hairedchild of the wilderness, involuntarily brought to mind that beautifulpassage of Ossian, [330] relating to the daughter of Reuthamir, the"white-bosomed" Moina:--"I have seen the walls of Balclutha, but theywere desolate. The fire had resounded in the halls, and the voice of thepeople is heard no more. The thistle shook there its lonely head; the mosswhistled to the wind. The fox looked out of the windows, the rank grass ofthe wall waved round its head. Desolate is the dwelling of Moina, silenceis in the house.... Raise the, song of mourning, O bards! over the land ofstrangers. They have but fallen before us: for one day, we must fall."

L'INTENDANT BIGOT--ROMANCE CANADIENNE.PAR JOS. MARMETTE.

After perusing the Legend of _Caroline, the Algonquin Maid_, the lover ofCanadian story, can find a more artistically woven plot in one of Mr.Marmette's historical novels L'Intendant Bigot. The following passageis from a short critique we recently published thereon:

"It is within the portals of Beaumanoir (Château-Bigot) that several of the most thrilling scenes in Mr. Marmette's novel are supposed to have taken place. A worthy veteran of noble birth, M. de Rochebrune, had died in Quebec through neglect and hunger, on the very steps of Bigot's luxurious palace, then facing the St Charles, leaving an only daughter, as virtuous as she was beautiful. One day, whilst returning through the fields (where St. Rochs has since been built) from visiting a nun in the General Hospital, she was unexpectedly seized by a strong arm and thrown on a swift horse, whose rider never stopped until he had deposited his victim at Bigot's country seat, Charlesbourg. The name of this cold-blooded villain was Soumois. He was a minion of the mighty and unscrupulous Bigot. Mdlle. de Rochebrune had a lover. A dashing young French officer was Raoul de Beaulac. Maddened with love and rage he closely watched Bigot's movements in the city, and determined to repossess his treasure, it mattered not, at what sacrifice. Bigot's was a difficult game to play. He had a _liaison_ with one of the most fascinating and fashionable married ladies of Quebec, and was thus prevented from hastening to see the fair prey awaiting him at Beaumanoir. Raoul played a bold game, and calling jealousy to his help, he went and confided the deed to Madame Pean, Bigot's fair charmer, entreating her immediate interference, and after some hairbreadth escapes, arrived at the Château with her just in time to save Mdlle de Rochebrune from dishonor.

Madame Pean was returning to the city with Mdlle de Rochebrune and Raoul, when on driving past the walls of the Intendant's palace, close to the spot where Desfosses street now begins, her carriage was attacked by a band of armed men--a reconnoitering party from Wolfe's fleet, anchored at Montmorency. A scuffle ensued, shots were fired, and some of the assailants killed; but in the _mêlée_ Mdlle. de Rochebrune was seized and hurried into the English boat commanded by one Capt. Brown. During the remainder of the summer the Canadian maid, treated with every species of respect, remained a prisoner on board the admiral's ship. (It is singular that Admiral Durell, whose beloved young son was at the time a prisoner of war at Three Rivers, did not propose an exchange of prisoners.) In the darkness and confusion which attended the disembarking of Wolfe's army on the night of the 12th of September, 1759, at Sillery, Mdlle. de Rochebrune slipped down the side of the vessel, and getting into one of the smaller boats, drifted ashore with the tide, and landed at Cap Rouge, just as her lover Raoul, who was a Lieutenant in La Roche-Beaucour's Cavalry was patrolling the heights of Sillery. Overpowered with joy, she rode behind him back to the city, and left him on nearing her home; but, to her horror, she spied dodging her footsteps her arch enemy the Intendant, and fell down in a species of fit, which turned out to be catalepsy. This furnishes, of course, a very moving _tableau_. The fair girl---supposed to be dead---was laid out in her shroud, when Raoul, during the confusion of that terrible day for French Rule, the 13th September, calling to see her, finds her a corpse just ready for interment. Fortunately for the heroine, a bombshell forgotten in the yard, all at once and in the nick of time igniting, explodes, shattering the tenement in fragments. The concussion recalls Mdlle. de Rochebrune to life; a happy marriage soon after ensues. The chief character in the novel, the Intendant sails shortly after for France, where he was imprisoned, as history states, in the Bastile, during fifteen months, and his ill-gotten gains confiscated. All this, with the exception of Mdlle. de Rochebrune's career, is strictly historical."

_THE FALLS OF THE CHAUDIÈRE_.

A tourist of a cultured mind and familiar with classic lore, standing onthe lofty brow of the _Chaudière_, might, without any peculiar flights ofimagination, fancy he beholds around him a solitary dell of that lovelyTEMPE immortalized in song:

The Falls of the _Chaudière_, in their chief features, differ entirelyfrom the majestic cascade of Montmorency.

"To a person who desires nothing more than the primary and sudden electricfeeling of an overpowering and rapturous surprise, the cascade ofMontmorency would certainly be preferable, but to the visitor, whoseunderstanding and sensibilities are animated by an infusion of antiquatedromance, the Falls of the _Chaudière_ would be more attractive." [331]

This favourite resort of tourists is accessible by two modes of travel. Wewould assuredly advise visitors, both on account of the striking objectsto be met with, to select the water route, going the land route on theirreturn; a small steamer plies daily, for a 10 cent fare, at stated hours,from the Lower Town market place, touching at Sillery and skirting thedark frowning cliffs of Cape Diamond, amidst the shipping, affording aunique view of the mural-crowned city. After stopping five minutes at theSillery wharf, the steamer crosses over and lands its passengers nearlyopposite the R. C. Church of St. Romuald, which, with its frescoed ceilingand ornate interior is one of the handsomest temples of worship roundQuebec. Vehicles are abundant at Levi and at St. Romuald; an hour's drivewill land the tourist on the weird and romantic brink of the_Chaudière_, either by following the lower road on the beach, skirting theadjoining highland, or taking the road on the heights.

"Although yielding in grandeur to Niagara and Montmorency, it possessesfeatures more interesting than either. The river, in its course of onehundred miles over a rugged bed, full of rapids and falls, is herenarrowed to a width of between three hundred and four hundred feet, and isprecipitated over a height of about one hundred and thirty feet,preserving the characteristic features of its _boiling_ waters, tillit mingles with the St. Lawrence. Hence it has received the appropriatename of _Chaudière_ or _Caldron_. Instead of descending in one continuoussheet, it is divided by large projecting rocks into three channels orcataracts, which, however, unite before reaching the basin below. Aglobular figure is imparted to the descending volumes of brilliant whitefoam, in consequence of the deep excavations of the rocks, and the cloudsof spray produce in the sunshine a brilliant variety of prismatic colours.The dark-green foliage of the dense forests that overhang the torrent onboth sides, forms a striking contrast with its snow-white foam.

"The wild diversity of rocks, the foliage of the overhanging woods, therapid motion, the effulgent brightness and the--deeply solemn sound of thecataracts, all combine to present a rich assemblage of objects highlyattractive, especially when the visitor, emerging from the wood, isinstantaneously surprised by the delightful scene. Below, the view isgreatly changed, and the falls produce an additionally strong and vividimpression.

"If strangers view the Falls from one side of the river only, the prospectfrom the eastern shore is recommended as preferable.

"The Falls of Montmorency are not immediately surrounded by any ruggedscenery, calculated to strengthen and perpetuate the peculiar emotionwhich is excited by the first glimpse of the cascade, but the drearywildness in the foliage of the encircling forest, the total absence ofevery vestige of human improvement, and the tumultuous waves and commotionand effulgence that incessantly occupy the mind and rivet the senses ofthe beholder in the survey of the _Chaudière_, conjoined with the widerexpansion and larger quantity of water in the stream, in the opinionof many visitors more than compensate for the greater elevation from whichthe waters of the Montmorency are precipitated."

On returning to the town of Levi, the tourist, taking the upper road, mayvisit the Falls of Etchemin, where have existed for close on a century,the extensive saw mills of Sir John Caldwell. They are now owned by HenryAtkinson, Esq.

"Gerald, eleventh Earl of Kildare, was born on the 26th of February, 1525.He was ten years of age at the time of his brother's arrest, and thenlying ill with the small-pox at Donore in the County Kildare. He wascommitted to the care of his tutor, Thomas Leverous, who conveyed him in alarge basket into Offaly to his sister, Lady Mary O'Connor. There heremained until he perfectly recovered. The misfortunes of his family hadexcited great sympathy for the boy over the whole of Ireland. This madethe government anxious to have him in their power; and they endeavoredaccordingly to induce O'Brien to surrender him to them. About the 5th ofMarch, 1540, Lady Eleanor O'Donnel, suspecting that it was the intentionof her husband to surrender Gerald to the English Government, resolved tosend him away. She engaged a merchant vessel of St. Malo which happened tobe in Donegal Bay, to convey a small party to the coast of Brittany.

"Bartholomew Warner, an agent of the English Government, sends thefollowing account of this transaction to Sir John Wallop, the EnglishAmbassador in France:

"'After ther departing from Yrlande they arryved at Murles (Morlaix) wher,as he was well receyvyd of the Captayne, whiche leadde him throughe thetowne by the hande, wher he tarryed 3 or 4 days, and strayghtwayes, thecaptayne sent word to Monsieur de Chattebriande off ther arrivying ther.* * * * And from thens they came in the sayde shippe to Saynt Malo, wherehe was also well receyvyd of them of the Town, and specially of JacquesQuartier, the pilot, which your Lordship spake off at my being atRouene.'"--_The Earls of Kildare and their Ancestors, from_ 1057 _to_1773, by the Marquis of Kildare. 3rd edition, pp. 179, 196.

_DISCOVERY OF THE REMAINS OF JACQUES CARTIER'S VESSEL, THE "PETITEHERMINE."_

(_Note for pages 429-431-455._)

On the 25th of August, 1843, there was much commotion among theantiquarians of our old city. Mr. Jos. Hamel, the city surveyor, hadthought it proper to call the attention of the Literary and HistoricalSociety to the remains of a vessel lying at the brook St. Michel, whichfalls into the River St. Charles on the north bank about half way betweenthe General Hospital and old Dorchester Bridge. This vessel was supposedto be the _Petite Hermine_, one of Jacques Cartier's vessels left byhim at the place where he wintered in 1535-6.

"The existence of this vessel had been known to persons frequenting theplace for a great many years. Part of it, the farthest out in the stream,had been carried away for firewood or otherwise, and the forepart of thevessel was covered with clay and earth from the adjoining bank to thedepth of six or seven feet. This was in great part removed, leaving thekeel and part of the planking and ribs visible. The vessel had been builtof large-grained oak, which was mostly in a good state of preservation,although discolored, and the iron spikes and bolts were still strong. Thebolts in the keel, contrary to the usual practice, had been placed in frombelow. This is the spot where Jacques Cartier, is supposed to havewintered. The tide rises in the entrance of the brook, where the vessellies, about six or seven feet. This entrance forms a semi-circular cove,on each side of which towards the St. Charles, the earth is elevated so asto have the appearance of a breastwork; the bank to the west of the coveis about eighteen feet high, and it was then covered with thick brushwhich prevented its being fully examined. The distance of the place fromtown is about one mile; the road is over the Dorchester Bridge and alongthe north bank of the St. Charles."--(_Quebec Gazette_, August 30, 1843).

(_From the Quebec Gazette, 30th August_, 1843.)

"In the last number (August 25th, inst.,) of _Le Canadien_ there isan article of deep interest to the Canadian antiquarian: The long agitatedquestion as to the _where_ or _whereabouts_ Jacques Cartier, on his secondvoyage from France to this continent spent the winter of 1535-6; whetherat the embouchure of the river bearing his name emptying into the St.Lawrence some ten or eleven leagues above Quebec, or in the little riverSt. Charles to the north of and at the foot of the promontory on whichQuebec is built, is now, it would seem, about to be solved andsatisfactorily set at rest by the recent discovery of the remains of avessel, doubtless of European construction, supposed to be those of _LaPetite Hermine_, of about 60 tons burthen, one of the three (_La GrandeHermine_, _La Petite Hermine_, and _L'Emerillon_), with which on the 19thof May, 1535, that intrepid navigator left St. Malo.

The article alluded to, which we believe to be the work of the editorhimself (Mr. McDonald) of _Le Canadien_, logically establishes fromJacques Cartier's narrative that the place of his wintering, or SainteCroix, as he named it, can be none other than the little river St.Charles, as we now call it. "Coasting," says he, "the said island(Orleans) we found at the upper end of it an expanse of water verybeautiful and pleasant, at which place there is a little river and barharbor with two or three fathoms of water, which we found to be a placesuitable for putting our vessels in safety. We called it _Ste. Croix_,because on that day, (14th September) we arrived there. Near this placethere are natives, whose chief is Donnacona and who lives there, whichplace is called Stadaconé," (now Quebec). Cartier observes in another partof his narrative that _Sainte Croix_ was situate half a league from _andto the north_ of Quebec. Again, speaking of the residence (Stadacone) ofDonnacona, he says, "_under which high land towards the north_ is theriver and harbour Sainte Croix, at which place we remained from the 15thof September, to the 16th of May, 1536, where the vessels remained dry."

* * * * *

"We now translate from _Le Canadien_:--'At the invitation of Mr. Jos.Hamel, City Surveyor, Hon. Wm. Sheppard, the President, and (G. B.)Faribault, Vice-President of the Literary and Historical Society ofQuebec, went with him on Saturday, the 19th instant, (1843) to visit theplace, and according to the position of the _debris_ of the vessel,the nature of the wood it is composed of, and the character of the stones(ballast) they found at the bottom, they were satisfied that all theprobabilities are in favor of Mr. Hamel's hypothesis.

"'On a report of this visit, the Council of the Literary and HistoricalSociety assembled on Monday last, and resolved on laying open the_debris_, leaving it to Mr. Faribault, the Vice-President, to make,with Mr. Hamel, the necessary arrangements for the execution. The membersof the Council having no funds at their disposal, that they can legallyapply to this purpose, have so far carried it on at their own expense.

"'Some valuable evidences of the ancient existence of this vessel havebeen gathered. We shall speak of them in giving an account of theexhumation in progress, under the direction of Messrs. Faribault andHamel. All those who can throw any light on the subject, either of theirown knowledge or by what they may have learnt by tradition, are earnestlysolicited to impart the same at the Office of _Le Canadien_.'

"Those gentlemen ought not to be allowed to carry on this work at theirsole expense. The country, the world, are interested in it. This continentin 1535, from end to end one vast wilderness, the imagination can scarcelyfigure to itself a more awful solitude than that in which, during thewinter of 1535-6 Cartier and his faithful followers, amidst savages in anunknown country, during a Canadian winter, at a thousand leagues fromtheir native land, were buried in the dreary swamp (for it then must havebeen little better) of _Sainte Croix_ now the beautiful valley of theSt. Charles, covered with cheerful cottages and a redundant population.Look to-day from the Citadel of _Stadaconé_ in all directions north,south, east, west, than which under heaven, there is not a more splendidpanorama, and think of what it was when Cartier and his comrades firstlooked upon it. Contrast his landing on the flinty rock at the base ofCape Diamond, the 14th September, 1535, and reception by a few gapingsavages, with that of the present Governor-General, Sir Charles Metcalfe;amidst acclaiming thousands, on the 25th (Aug. 1843)--the manner ofpassing a winter at Stadaconé in 1535-6 and at the same place in 1842-3.What changes have the three centuries wrought! What recollections havethey left! And what changes will not the next three hundred years bringabout? More wonderful probably than those we admire to-day. But come whatmay of that which men sometimes call great and glorious, nothing canobliterate or eclipse the honors justly due to the memory of thecelebrated navigator and his comrades, who first "coasting the said island(now Orleans) found at the end of it an expanse of water very beautifuland pleasant, and a little bar harbour," ('hable,' as he calls it,) andwintered there at about half a league northward of and under the highlandof Stadaconé."

"During the dismal winter Jacques Cartier must have passed in his newquarters at _Ste. Croix_, he lost, by sickness contracted, it is said,from the natives, but more probably from scurvy, twenty-five of hismen. This obliged him to abandon one of his three vessels (_La PetiteHermine_ it is believed) which he left in her winter quarters, returningwith the two others to France. The _locale_ of the _débris_ or remains,not only corresponds with the description given by Jacques Cartier of Ste.Croix, but also with the attention and particular care that might beexpected from a skilful commander, in the selection of a safe spot in anunknown region where never an European had been before him, for winteringhis vessels. They lie in the bottom of a small creek or gulley, known asthe _ruisseau St. Michel_, into which the tides regularly flow, on theproperty of Charles Smith, Esq., on the north side of the St. Charles andat about half a mile following the bends of the river above the site ofthe old Dorchester Bridge.--They are a little up the creek at about anacre from its mouth, and their position (where a sudden or short turn ofthe creek renders it next to impossible that she should be forced out ofit by any rush of water in the spring or efforts of the ice,) evinces atonce the precaution and the judgment of the commander in his choice of thespot. But small portions of her remaining timber (oak) are visible throughthe mud, but they are bitumanised and black as ebony, and after reposingin that spot 307 years, seem, as far as by chopping them with axes orspades, and probing by iron rods or picks, can be ascertained, sound asthe day they were brought thither. The merit of the discovery belongs toour fellow townsman, Mr. Joseph Hamel, the City Surveyor."

Quebec, 28th August, 1843.

_"LE CANON DE BRONZE."--THE BRONZE CANNON._

"A few years ago an ancient cannon of peculiar make, and supposed to havebeen of Spanish construction, was found in the river St. Lawrence,opposite the Parish of Champlain, in the District of Three Rivers. It isnow in the Museum of Mr. Chasseur, and will repay the visit of the curiousstranger. The ingenious writer of the Treatise upon this piece ofordnance, published in the second volume of the TRANSACTIONS of theLiterary and Historical Society of Quebec, has endeavoured to show that itbelonged to Verazzani,--that the latter perished before the second voyageof Jacques Cartier, either by scurvy or shipwreck, on his way up the rivertowards Hochelaga. He also endeavors, with great stretch of fancy, toexplain and account for the pantomime enacted by the Indians in thepresence of Jacques Cartier, in order to dissuade him from proceeding toHochelaga so late in the season, by their recollection and allusion to thedeath of Verazzani, some nine or ten years before. But if they had reallyknown anything respecting the fate of this navigator--and it must havebeen fresh in their memory, if we recall to mind how comparatively short aperiod had elapsed--is it not most likely that they would have foundmeans, through the two interpreters to communicate it to Cartier? Yet itappears that the latter never so much as heard of it, either at Hochelai,now the Richelieu, where he was on friendly terms with the chief of thevillage--or at Hochelaga, where it must have been known--or when hewintered at Ste. Croix, in the little river St. Charles--nor yet when hepassed a second winter at Carouge! The best evidence, however, that theIndian pantomime had no reference to Verazzani, and to disprove at oncethe truth of the tradition respecting his death in any part of the St.Lawrence, is to show, which we shall do on good authority, that at thevery time when Cartier was passing the winter at Ste. Croix, Verazzani wasactually alive in Italy. From a letter of Annibal Caro, quoted byTiraboschi, an author of undoubted reputation, in the Storie dellaLiterature Italiana, Vol. VII. part I. pp. 261, 462, it is proved thatVerazzani was living in 1537, a year after the pantomime at Ste. Croix!

While on the subject of the Canon de Bronze it may be noted thatCharlevoix mentions also a tradition, that Jacques Cartier himself wasshipwrecked at the mouth of the river called by his name, with the loss ofone of his vessels. From this it has been supposed that the Canon deBronze was lost on that occasion; and an erroneous inscription to thateffect has been engraved upon it. In the first place the cannon was notfound at the mouth of the River Jacques Cartier, but opposite the Parishof Champlain; in the next, no shipwreck was ever suffered by JacquesCartier, who wintered in fact at the mouth of the little river St.Charles. The tradition as to his shipwreck, and to the loss of one of hisvessels, most probably arose from the well known circumstance of hishaving returned to France with two ships, instead of three, with which heleft St. Malo. Having lost so many men by scurvy during his first winterin Canada, he was under the necessity of abandoning one of them, which layin the harbour of Ste. Croix. The people of Champlain having possessedthemselves of the old iron to be found on the vessel, it of course soonfell to pieces, and in process of time arose the tradition that JacquesCartier had been shipwrecked. The removal of the scene of his supposeddisaster from the St. Charles to the River Jacques Cartier. was an errorof Charlevoix.

Before we conclude this notice of Verazzani: it may be mentioned, that inthe Strozzi Library at Florence, is preserved a manuscript, in which he issaid to have given with great minuteness, a description of all thecountries which he had visited during his voyage, and from which, saysTiraboschi, we derive the intelligence, that he had formed the design, incommon with the other navigators of that era, of attempting a passagethrough those seas to the East Indies. It is much to be desired, that someItalian Scholar would favor the world with the publication of thismanuscript of Verazzani."

[_See pages_ 71-72.]

_THE FRENCH WHO REMAINED IN QUEBEC AFTER ITS CAPITULATION TO THE BRITISHIN 1629._

(_From the Canadian Antiquarian_)

In Canadian annals there is no period veiled deeper in Cimmerian darkness,than the short era of the occupation of Quebec by the English under LouisKirke, extending from the 14th July 1629, to 13th July, 1632. The absenceof diaries, of regular histories, no doubt makes it difficult toreconstruct, in minute details, the nascent city of 1629. Deep researches,however, in the English and French archives have recently brought to thesurface many curious incidents. To the Abbé Faillon, who, in addition tothe usual sources of information had access to the archives of thePropaganda at Rome, the cause of history is deeply indebted, though onemust occasionally regret his partiality towards Montreal which so oftenobscures his judgment. Another useful source to draw from for ourhistorians, will be found in a very recent work on the conquest of Canadain 1629 by a descendant of Louis Kirke, an Oxford graduate, it ispublished in England.

Those who fancy reading the present to the past, will be pleased to meetin those two last writers a quaint account of the theological feudagitating the Rock in 1629. Religious controversies were then, as now, theorder of the day. But bluff Commander Kirke had a happy way of getting ridof bad theology. His Excellency, whose ancestors hailed from France, was aHuguenot, a staunch believer in John Calvin. Of his trusty garrison of 90men a goodly portion were calvinists, the rest, however, with the chaplainof the forces, were disciples of Luther. The squabble, from theology,degenerated into disloyalty to the constituted authorities, a conspiracywas hatched to overthrow the Governor's rule and murder Kirke. HisReverence the Lutheran minister was supposed to be in some way accessoryto the plot, which Kirke found means to suppress with a high hand, and HisReverence, without the slightest regard to the cut of his coat, wasarrested and detained a prisoner for six months in the Jesuit's residenceon the banks of the St. Charles, near Hare Point, from which he emerged,let us hope, a wiser, if not a better man. History has failed to disclosethe name of the Lutheran minister.

Elsewhere [332] we have furnished a summary of the French families whoremained in Quebec in 1629, after the departure of Champlain andcapitulation of the place to the British. Students of Canadian history areindebted to Mr. Stanislas Drapeau, of Ottawa, for a still fuller account,which we shall take the liberty to translate.

"Over and above the English garrison of Quebec, numbering 90 men, we canmake out that twenty-eight French remained. The inmates of Quebec thatwinter amounted to 118 persons, as follows:

1. GUILLAUME HOBOU--Marie Rollet, his wife, widow of the late LouisHébert, Guillaume Hébert son of Louis Hébert.

2. GUILLAUME COUILLARD, son-in-law of the late Louis Hébert.--GuillemetteHébert, his wife, Louise, aged four years, Marguerite, aged three years,Louis, aged two years, their children.

My Lord,--I have the honour to enclose a certified copy of 26th May, HerMajesty's Warrant of Assignment of 1868, Armorial Bearings for theDominion and Provinces of Canada, which has been duly enrolled in HerMajesty's College of Arms, and I have to request that your Lordship willtake such steps as may be necessary for carrying Her Majesty's graciousintentions into effect.

I have, &c,

(Signed) BUCKINGHAM AND CHANDOS.

TO THE GOVERNOR, THE RIGHT HON. VISC. MONK, &c., &c.

VICTORIA R.

VICTORIA, by the grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain andIreland, Queen, Defender of the Faith, &c.

Whereas, etc,... We were empowered to declare after a certain day thereinappointed, that the Provinces of Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick shouldform one Dominion under the name of Canada, etc.,... and after the firstday of July, 1867, the said Provinces should form and be one Dominionunder the name of Canada accordingly.

And forasmuch as it is Our Royal will and pleasure that for the greaterhonour and distinction of the said Provinces, certain Armorial Ensignsshould be assigned to them;

Know Ye, therefore, that We, of Our Princely Grace and special favour havegranted and assigned, and by these presents do grant and assign theArmorial Ensigns following, that is to say:

FOR THE PROVINCE OF ONTARIO

Vert a sprig of three Leaves of Maple slipped, or on a chief Argent theCross of St. George.

FOR THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC

Or on a Fess Gules between two Fluer de Lis in chief Azure, and a sprig ofthree Leaves of Maple slipped vert in base, a Lion passant guardant or

FOR THE PROVINCE OF NOVA SCOTIA

Or on a Fess Wavy Azure between three Thistles proper, a Salmon NaiantArgent

FOR THE PROVINCE OF NEW BRUNSWICK

Or on Waves a Lymphad, or Ancient Galley, with Oars in action, proper on achief Gules a Lion passant guardant or, as the same are severally depictedin the margin hereof, to be borne for the said respective Provinces onSeals, Shields, Banners, Flags or otherwise, according to the Laws of Arms

And we are further pleased to declare that the said United Province ofCanada, being one Dominion under the name of Canada, shall, upon alloccasions that may be required, use a common Seal, to be called the "GreatSeal of Canada," which said seal shall be composed of the Arms of the saidfour Provinces quarterly, all of which armorial bearings are set forth inour Royal Warrant

Our Will and Pleasure is that you, Edward George Fitzalan Howard,(commonly called Lord Edward George Fitzalan Howard) Deputy to our saidEarl Marshal, to whom the cognizance of matters of this nature dothproperly belong, do require and command that this Our Concession andDeclaration be recorded in our college of arms, in order that Our Officersof Arms and all other Public Functionaries whom it may concern may takefull notice and knowledge thereof in their several and respectivedepartments. And for so doing this shall be your Warrant, given at ourCourt at St James, this twenty-sixth day of May, in the thirty-first yearof Our Reign

By Her Majesty's command,

(Signed) BUCKINGHAM AND CHANDOS

"SEAL OF THE DOMINION OF CANADA--Messrs J. G. and A. B. Wyon have now onview, at 287 Regent Street, impressions from the seals of the fourprovinces of Canada and the Great Seal of the Dominion, just completed,with the gold medal that has been struck in commemoration of the union ofthe provinces. They are all designed and executed in a very high style ofart. Of the seals, that for the Dominion is, of coarse, the largest. Itrepresents the Queen seated under a Gothic canopy and holding the ball andsceptre, while the wings of the canopy contain the shields of theProvinces--two on either side--hanging on the stem of an oak. These Gothiccanopies occupy nearly the whole of the middle space of the seal, theground between them and the border is covered with a rich diaper, and ashield bearing the Royal Arms of England fills the space beneath thecentre canopy. The border of the seal bears the inscription, "Victoria,Dei Gratia, Britanniae Regina, F. D. In Canada Sigillum." This work wouldadd to the reputation of any other seal engraver, though it can hardly doso to that of the Messrs Wyon, whose productions have long enjoyed a highand deserved celebrity. The seal is well filled, as it should be in aGothic design, but it is not crowded, the ornaments are all very pure instyle, and the whole is in the most perfect keeping. The execution is notless remarkable, the relief is extremely high in parts (although it doesnot at first appear to be so, owing to the breadth of the composition),but, in spite of this difficulty, the truth, sharpness, and finish ofevery part have been preserved as well as they could possibly be on amedal, or even on a coin. The smaller seals for the provinces are engravedon one general design. The crown surmounts a central shield bearing theRoyal Arms, below which is a smaller shield bearing the arms of theparticular province--New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec, or Nova Scotia. TheRoyal motto on a flowing ribbon fills up the space at the sides; a borderadapted to the outline of the design runs outside this, and touches thecircular border of the seal containing the legend. These seals are no lessremarkable for carefulness of execution than the one to which we havereferred. The medal which has been struck to commemorate the confederationof the provinces is in solid gold, and is so large and massive that itsvalue in metal alone is £50. On the obverse there is a head of the Queen,for which Her Majesty recently gave Mr. Wyon sittings; the reverse bearsan allegorical design--Britannia seated and holding the scroll ofconfederation, with figures representing the four provinces grouped aroundher. Ontario holds the sheaf and sickle; Quebec, the paddle; Nova Scotia,the mining spade; and New Brunswick the forest axe. Britannia carries hertrident and the lion crouches by her side. The following inscription runsround a raised border: "Juventas et Patrius Vigor Canada Instaurata 1867."The relief on this side is extremely bold, and the composition, modellingand finish are such as to leave little to be desired. The treatment of thehead on the obverse is broad and simple; the hair is hidden by a sort ofhood of flowing drapery confined by a plain coronet, and the surface isbut little broken anywhere. The ornaments are massive rather than rich;there is a plain pendant in the ear, and a miniature of the Prince Consortis attached to a necklace of very chaste design."--_Morning Chronicle,Quebec._

[_See page_ 148.]

_MILITIA UNIFORMS._

Canadian militiamen will be interested in the following letter whichappeared in the Toronto _Globe_.

SIR,--I observe in your "Notes from the Capital" a paragraph to the effectthat Major-General Luard has taken exception to the gold lace worn bycertain arms of the active militia. I am aware that this point has beenraised before, and perhaps it is not a very material issue; but there is afeature--an historical one--in connection with the subject that deservesattention, and I remember when the militia was more active than now, inthe face of danger to the peace of the country, this historical point wasbrought into prominence. I simply suggest that a certain warrant signed bythe King after the war of 1812 be unearthed. I believe it lies somewherein the militia archives, having been transferred from the Public RecordOffice. According to an old officer, now dead, who was familiar with it,this warrant authorises the Canadian militia--a royal force, by the way--to wear the same uniform as His Majesty's "Royal Regiments." Hence it isthat the characteristic features of the royal livery has been assumed bythe artillery and the other arms of the service. My informant, who hadserved in 1812, also stated that it was owing to an accident that silverwas assumed in 1862, the contractor in London, who supplied, in greathaste, uniforms for the militia at the time of the Trent affair, assumingthat "militia" uniforms must be after the style of the English force,which bears silver ornaments. The Canadian militia is, of course, on adifferent footing, and takes precedence after the regular army. I think,therefore, that for the sake of history and the prominent position of theCanadian militia in a warlike sense, and in view of services rendered,such as no other militia in the British service ever rendered, this pointis worthy of revival and investigation. Apart from this there is the factthat a change of dress is a source of expense and embarrassment toofficers. I have served in various corps for seventeen years, and I know.L. A. M. L.

According to the statistics furnished by Mr. McEachran, V.S., andGovernment Inspector of live stock, the total shipments for 1879 fromMontreal and Quebec from toe opening to the close of navigation, ascompared with the two previous years, are as follows:--

The great majority of animals shipped from Quebec were forwarded by sailfrom Montreal, and large as the increased shipments of cattle, sheep andhogs this year are over 1878 and 1877, the exports next year willdoubtless show a still large increase as compared with those of 1879--[Quebec _Mercury_, 18th Nov., 1879.]

Mr. J. A. Couture, veterinary surgeon, the officer in charge of the PointLevi cattle quarantine, furnishes the following figures regarding theCanadian Cattle Trade during the season of 1879. The total number of livestock shipped at Montreal was 17,101 head of cattle, 59,907 sheep, and3,468 hogs. From this port the shipments were 4,000 head of cattle, 17,274sheep, and 188 hogs; or a grand total from the two shipping ports of21,112 head of cattle; 77,181 sheep and 3,656 hogs. The estimated value ofthis live stock is--cattle, $1,111,200; sheep, $771,810; and hogs,$52,720; or a grand total of $2,935,730. The value of the forage exportedwith this stock for food, averaging the trip of each steamship at tendays, is placed at $92,690; and the estimated sums paid to the varioussteamship lines for freight is $583,900.--[Quebec _Mercury_, 24th Nov.,1879.]

I have furnished elsewhere, a sketch and a tabular statement showing thegradual progress in ship-building, under French Rule and under EnglishRule, from 1787 down to 1875.--_Vide_ QUEBEC PAST AND PRESENT, page 434-9.

[_See page 219._]

_THE CONQUEST OF NEW YORK._

"Louis XIV," says Parkman, "commanded that eighteen thousand unoffendingpersons should be stripped of all they possessed, and cast out to themercy of the wilderness. The atrocity of the plan is matched by its folly.The King gave explicit orders, but he gave neither ships nor men enough toaccomplish them; and the Dutch farmers, goaded to desperation, would havecut his sixteen hundred soldiers to pieces." [342]

_COPY OF THE EPITAPH PREPARED BY THE ACADÉMIE DES INSCRIPTIONS AT PARISFOR THE MARQUIS OF MONTCALM'S TOMB._

Leave was asked by the French Government to have the marble tablet, onwhich this epitaph was inscribed, sent out to Quebec, and granted by theEnglish Government (_Vide_ William Pitt's Letter, 10th April, 1761).This inscription, from some cause or other, never reached Quebec.

An elegantly printed volume has just issued from the press of Noyes, Snowand Co., Worcester, Mass, from the pen of George F. Daniels, containing asuccinct history of one of the earliest Massachusetts towns--the town ofOxford; we think we cannot introduce it to the reader more appropriately,than in the words of Oliver Wendell Holmes, whose graceful introductionprefaces the volume.

Oliver Wendell Holmes to George F. Daniels:--"Of all my father'shistorical studies," says the Autocrat of the Breakfast-table, "none everinterested me so much as his 'Memoir of the French Protestants who settledat Oxford, in 1686,'--all the circumstances connected with that secondColony of Pilgrim-Fathers, are such as to invest it with singularattraction for the student of history, the antiquary, the genealogist. Itcarries us back to the memories of the massacre of Saint Bartholomew, tothe generous Edict of Nantes, and the gallant soldier-king, who issued it;to the days of the Grand Monarque, and the cruel act of revocation whichdrove into exile hundreds of thousands of the best subjects of France--among them the little band which was planted in our Massachusetts half-tamed wilderness. It leads the explorer who loves to linger around theplaces consecrated by human enterprise, efforts, trials, triumphs,sufferings, to localities still marked with the fading traces of thestrangers who, there found a refuge for a few brief years, and thenwandered forth to know their homes no more. It tells the lovers of familyhistory where the un-English names which he is constantly meeting with--Bowdoin, Faneuil, Sigourney--found their origin, and under what skies weremoulded the type of lineaments, unlike those of Anglo-Saxon parentage,which he finds among certain of his acquaintance, and it may be in his ownfamily or himself. And what romance can be fuller of interest than thestory of this hunted handful of Protestants leaving, some of them at anhour's warning, all that was dear to them, and voluntarily wreckingthemselves, as it were, on this shore, where the savage and the wolf werewaiting ready to dispute possession with the feeble intruders. They came